Home Office

Police: Pensions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral statement of 13 December 2018 on Police Funding Settlement, Official Report, column 431, for what reason the resource provided to cover unexpected increases in the contribution to public sector pensions will match the £165m identified by police chiefs as being the liability in 2019-20.

Mr Nick Hurd: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 21 December 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of police officers employed by each police force in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis. These figures present a picture of the workforce as at the 31 March and as at 30 September each year. These data are published in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical publication, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-walesData on the number of officers per 100,000 of the resident population, by police force area, are published on an annual basis. The latest available data on the number of police officers per 100,000 of the population can be found in Table_H4 of the data tables accompanying the main release, the latest of which can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2018Data on the number of police officers are collected at Police Force Area level only, and cannot be broken at local authority level.The Home Office does not hold information on response times of the police.In his Budget, the Chancellor committed to providing funding for the police in 2019/20 to cover additional pensions costs beyond the £165m which was expected at Budget 2016. The pensions grant announced at the settlement covers the additional pension costs above £165m for the police officer scheme, and the additional pension costs above £11m for police staff. This reflects revised costings following technical changes to how the actuarial estimate of the increase in costs for officers is assessed. Total expected cost pressures arising from the valuations are now £302m for the police officer scheme and £27m for police staff.The Government is enabling an overall increase in funding of up to £970m in police funding including precept and national priorities. This pensions funding, taken together with the additional grant funding and local precept, provides sufficient means for the police to meet cost increases, while continuing to recruit and invest in the capabilities they need.Cost pressures, including pensions, beyond 2019/20 will be considered as part of the next Spending Review where decisions on longer term police funding will be made in the round.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of police officers employed by each police force in England and Wales on a bi-annual basis. These figures present a picture of the workforce as at the 31 March and as at 30 September each year. These data are published in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical publication, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-walesData on the number of officers per 100,000 of the resident population, by police force area, are published on an annual basis. The latest available data on the number of police officers per 100,000 of the population can be found in Table_H4 of the data tables accompanying the main release, the latest of which can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2018Data on the number of police officers are collected at Police Force Area level only, and cannot be broken at local authority level.The Home Office does not hold information on response times of the police.In his Budget, the Chancellor committed to providing funding for the police in 2019/20 to cover additional pensions costs beyond the £165m which was expected at Budget 2016. The pensions grant announced at the settlement covers the additional pension costs above £165m for the police officer scheme, and the additional pension costs above £11m for police staff. This reflects revised costings following technical changes to how the actuarial estimate of the increase in costs for officers is assessed. Total expected cost pressures arising from the valuations are now £302m for the police officer scheme and £27m for police staff.The Government is enabling an overall increase in funding of up to £970m in police funding including precept and national priorities. This pensions funding, taken together with the additional grant funding and local precept, provides sufficient means for the police to meet cost increases, while continuing to recruit and invest in the capabilities they need.Cost pressures, including pensions, beyond 2019/20 will be considered as part of the next Spending Review where decisions on longer term police funding will be made in the round.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Migrant Workers

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of his Department paying the £65 application fee for settled or pre-settled status for EU nationals (a) employed by and (b) working as an outsourced worker in his Department; what estimate he has made of the total cost to his Department of paying those fees; and what assessment he has made of the risks that the EU Settlement Scheme poses to the retention of EU nationals (i) employed by or (ii) working as an outsourced worker in his Department.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK Government currently does not plan to pay the Settled Status Fee for its non-UK EU citizen employees. The fee is set at an affordable rate (£65), less than the cost of a UK passport. Outsourced workers are not employees of the Department and therefore this would be a decision for their employers.The number of non-UK EU citizens employed across the Civil Service is not consistently collected across Government. It is therefore not possible to estimate the cost of paying the settled status fee for non-UK EU nationals employed directly by the department.We value the significant contribution made by EU citizens working in the Civil Service and we want these colleagues to continue to play a full role in the work of the Civil Service. We are committed to supporting our EU citizen employees across the Civil Service; the important engagement with EU national networks across government will continue over the coming months.The Government has confirmed that, in a no deal scenario, the EU Settlement Scheme will continue to be implemented, enabling EU citizens and their family members living in the UK by 29 March 2019 to secure their status and continue to be able to work, study, and access benefits and services in the UK. The scheme will be fully open by 30 March 2019 as planned.